Well, to be fair the "curse of Swiss forwards" is just two first round busts that happened 10 years ago, no other was expected to amount to anything in the NHL.

there were always swiss forwards who seemed to be good enough, but never made it. look at the NLA. i think there are around 10 forwards who should play NHL. but somehow it never really worked.
i'm curious what ambühl can do. he's another one of those who is good enough, but i'm not convinced that he stays in NA.

no NHL forwards doesn't reflect swiss hockey, because swiss hockey is better than that IMO. wouldn't you agree?

there were always swiss forwards who seemed to be good enough, but never made it. look at the NLA. i think there are around 10 forwards who should play NHL. but somehow it never really worked.
i'm curious what ambühl can do. he's another one of those who is good enough, but i'm not convinced that he stays in NA.

no NHL forwards doesn't reflect swiss hockey, because swiss hockey is better than that IMO. wouldn't you agree?

Maybe 10 is a strech, but some could for sure. But my point was that I don't think any NHL team would jump to conclusion regarding the small sample of Swiss forwards who had high expectations placed on them, just like it would be foolish to draw conclusions about the quality of Swiss defensemen based on Streit, Sbisa and Weber.

We're far from a situation comparable to Slovakia when they had all those superstar forwards and just one high level defenseman.

Quote:

Originally Posted by torero

Perhaps he doesn't give all rea$on$ of his choice ?

Given that the KHL salary cap for next season is 17.4M USD with one exception per team (which in the case of Atlant is probably Mozyakin), Gerber's salary is probably around 1M, give or take a few hundreds, while I guess he could have earned something around 1.5M or more had he signed that Pittsburgh offer, which would make for a comparable net earning. In the end the opportunity to be a number one probably made the difference.

And he points out in the interview that he could have earned more in the NHL.

Given that the KHL salary cap for next season is 17.4M USD with one exception per team (which in the case of Atlant is probably Mozyakin), Gerber's salary is probably around 1M, give or take a few hundreds, while I guess he could have earned something around 1.5M or more had he signed that Pittsburgh offer, which would make for a comparable net earning. In the end the opportunity to be a number one probably made the difference.

And he points out in the interview that he could have earned more in the NHL.

Penguins are paying Fleury 5 mios. (actually different sites report different figures on fleur's salary). By paying Gerber 1.5 they would have a couple of 100's of thousands left for the year in cap space. (already like this, they are 27th out of 30 teams in cap space left with a 525'000 salary for the backup).

Then i do not think that salaries for russian players are that high. I am pretty convinced that being first goalie in KHL pays more than being backup in NHL on average. To get a 7 mio salary in Russia may be difficult but a foreigner can earn without problem a 1.5mio.

but it i am just in a nitty gritty calculation. finally who know$ ??

(it remainds me Federer choosing Zug as a dwelling place only because the appartment was soooo beautifull !)

i wouldn't be surprised if he's top15, maybe top20. the curse of swiss forwards might hurt his chances a bit, but scouts should judge him by what he is and could be and that's damn impressive.

I can't tell that, since I haven't seen any of the other 2010 NHL Talent and I'm not sure how accurate those lists in the prospect-boards are.... But hey, that wouldn't be bad and I think he'd be also a guy with the right will to get to the NHL...

From the 26th of december 'till 30th there will be a nice 5 nations tournament (with u18 from SUI / CZE / SVK/ GER / FIN) in Zuchwil, Switzerland. That's a good chance to compare Swiss Players to others, but Nino unfortunatly will be in Canada...

Sbisa may play in the first line and Hiller is a very good backup that may get a first position one of these days/years.

Ducks for the cup.
GoDucksGo

I think it's quite likely Hiller will start the season as number one, after a great play-offs, he's certainly earned that chance. Hiller and Sbisa both playing important roles for a successful hockey club is great for Swiss hockey!

I think it's quite likely Hiller will start the season as number one, after a great play-offs, he's certainly earned that chance. Hiller and Sbisa both playing important roles for a successful hockey club is great for Swiss hockey!

Sbisa is likely to play ... although i think he will be observed ... Yet Ducks have a poor farm team structure therefore, since he is deemed valuable, they are not likely to send him to AHL. (they will be using the farm team of another NHL team ... they will not have the possibility to control the development of a placer !) That will certainly play a role in making them play Sbisa.

But Hiller starting as first goalie is far from sure. In fact Guigere is under contract for 2 years at a salary of 6mios a year ... so if they would give up onto Guigere ... they would loose this money. He would have no value on the market ...

The chance of Hiller lies more in the fact that the goalie trainer ... François Alaire went to Toronto. Therefore the Duck's organisation is unsecured as to the capacity to find new goalies to replace the old ones. So they will also push Hiller to stay ... i guess. Three years ago Bryzgalov had amazing games in playoffs ... yet he started the year after as backup in favour of Guigere and was even waived for Hiller.

How are swiss players in regards to their possibility to play in NA this year ?

Streit - Will be part of Islander team 100% again with a leading role.

Sbisa ... likely to be on the 2nd or 3rd defense line with the Ducks chances are 70%

Hiller ... likely to be a nber 2 or a B goalie of high level with the Ducks. maybe nber 1 ... depeding on Jigger ... i would say chances are : 25% A vs 75% B. The reason is more complicated than simple capacitiy as described in a previous post

Weber ... Possibly D with the Canadiens, certainly during the year as some may be injured or ... chances for him to be on the NHL roster upfront would be 10% vs 90% in a farm team waiting his opportunity.

Ambuhl ... as forward with the Rangers ... to tell you the thruth ... i have no idea ... i didn't see him and people seem to be negative (may be with complexes on the swiss side ... as usual) and on the american side they simply ignore what the do not know. so little feed back. But he is likely to get at least a contract and to play in AHL. probability he plays in 3rd or 4th line with the rangers 30% / 70% in the AHL.

Steiner ... with the blue jackets ... i read average good things and ... no bad things ... maybe he is simply invisible by a relative lack of talent .. possibility to play upfront with the Blue jackets 20% vs 80% in AHL or in Sweden or even KHL ...

Nino Niderreitter will play for the Portland winter hawks
Nills Berger for the Innisfill lakers
Allan Tallarini for the Idaho Steelheads

**

Martin Gerber in Atlant Mitishi (KHL) ... as goaltender ... 100% ! i always had faith in him. (lets not foget he has been a frontruner with Aebischer in NA AND blanked Canada + did many other "prouesses" that are presently forgotten. !! RESPECT)

If I forgot a player , if you want to add something or critisize one of my says ... let go ! we are a country that promotes freedom of expression. And the idea of this is to create a debate on our players abroad !

The Ducks made a good job of adding some depth on defense, so I think Sbisa's chances are more like 50-50. I would also rank Hiller at 50-50, no reason to think he won't get his fair share of games at the start of the season.

Steiner and Cunti should both be at 0%. Also you forgot Juraj Simek for Tampa Bay and Robert Mayer with Montreal, but they have no chance to make the team anyway.

I really think Ambuhl can grap a spot on the Rangers' roster. Every time I visit the Rangers board, I'm amazed to see how low people place him in the organization. Nobody even mentions him as a possible callup or a 13th forward. I've even seen some posters put him on the 4th line in Hartford....

Concerning Cunti, he's no longer part of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. They didn't offer him a contract. He took part in the Traverse City prospect tournament with the Minnesota Wild but I don't know if they offered him a contract or if they invited him to the main camp.

IMO, Sbisa is a look. He'll make the team.

I'm surprised that Roman Wick didn't find a NHL franchise willing to offer him a contract. Maybe he's playing one more year in the NLA to improve his skills

I disagree with Ambuhl, actually i receive positive comment about his performance during the training camp. Ambuhl tipped a nice centering pass from Kotalik on the left side and also scored by deflecting a shot past goalie Matt Zaba. He and Finnish D Ilkka Heikinen, have a shot of making the team.

As for Roman Wick, i hear that he had a valid contract with Kloten until 2010-2011...He also said that he doesn't want to rush the NHL road. He's a bit soft IMO.

Simek did a nice surprise during his training camp by having at least 1 goal per game. He did get out of his lethargy state during the end of the season with Norfolk. I hope this will encourage him for the next season and hopefully make the team past mid-season if he can

For Sbisa i actually believe that he will make the team. An additional reason than simply the quality of the player is that Ducks have no dedicated farm team. Consequently by not alligning him in NHL, they will place him in a team with no control ... they want to develop him. The development program for him might be at risk.

For Ambuhl, i hope thenextoneX is right ... if he isn't, i hope that ultimately Ambuhl's qualities will prevail over the very strong conventional wisdom that generaly reigns in Anglo Saxon countries that would be against him. (i fear a problem like with Von Arx although Ambuhl is now under contract while at the time Von Arx may not have been ... in fact i do not know this last point ... i am just speculating based on the outcome) ...

ThenextoneX ... by the way how did you get this info on Ambuhl's tipping and deflections ... personal contact or a publicly internet available source ?? tks

However, i change my mind with Ambuhl, look like they want him to start his season in Hartford. Btw, Andres Ambuhl scored the deciding goal in the fifth round of the shootout, beating Mike McKenna to the stick side to give Hartford a 3-2 victory in the tiebreaker.

Maybee it was his smaller stride during training camp...i guess he may be one of the first call-up when the season begin.

Ambuhl's situation seems to be pointing toward the AHL Hartford. Actually what i read was, besides the goals he scored ... he got knocked off the puck ... . Then I understand them wanting him to bulck up or to toughen up in order to be more solid on the puck.

It is true that in Switzerland, referees would not allow many usual "attacks" for North America. He must adjust to this game style.

He seems to be recognized as good ... good hands, fast, fighting spirit but needs to become stronger. That makes sense.

Under this perspective it could be that some time in AHL with a dedicated training program would be highly beneficial to him.

If he keeps willing and training ... he might just be a good second liner forward in 1 or 2 years.

Ambuhl's situation seems to be pointing toward the AHL Hartford. Actually what i read was, besides the goals he scored ... he got knocked off the puck ... . Then I understand them wanting him to bulck up or to toughen up in order to be more solid on the puck.

It is true that in Switzerland, referees would not allow many usual "attacks" for North America. He must adjust to this game style.

He seems to be recognized as good ... good hands, fast, fighting spirit but needs to become stronger. That makes sense.

Under this perspective it could be that some time in AHL with a dedicated training program would be highly beneficial to him.

If he keeps willing and training ... he might become a good second liner forward in 1 or 2 years.